8 myths about cars, imposed upon us by the cinema

Myth or reality?

Cinema and mass culture gave us a lot of stereotypes. Some of them we have been destroyed, but some still live in our minds. Some of these stereotypes apply to cars. The other day, after watching one of the films, I decided that it is necessary to discuss the cliches that have nothing to do with reality. For example, turns with drifts and explosions out of the blue. Of course, on screen it looks nice, but in real life it doesn't work.

the Car explodes when you crash

The standard template that we have seen especially often in action movies of the nineties, this car. Often, they literally exploded from just crashed into something. It seemed that on this car from the factory you should have put some signs about hazards or out on the road without an escort.

Of Course, theoretically, the explosion of the car when the accident possible, but especially to explode there is nothing. Petrol, you say, and you're right. It is really inflammable and can be very sharp ignite. That is, to explode. That's just the petrol tank is under the rear seat and the car rarely deformed so that the tank really suffered. Plus the car manufacturers are working hard to protect the driver and passengers from such a nasty blow of fate.

the Machine can really explode in the crash, but the probability of this is negligible.

Much more machine for a variety of reasons illuminate, but still, even the fire does not always lead to an explosion. There must meet a lot of factors. But in the movie, the car almost explodes at the slightest provocation. So that shatters into a few blocks. It looks impressive, but a few years ago, film makers began to move away from this emphatic drama, trying to make the accident more realistic. Well done, what else can I say?

the Explosion of the car from the bullets

Another myth associated with gasoline and cars, also originates in the nineties and appeared in action movies, which not always can be called first-class. The essence is that a bullet in the gas tank of the car is mandatory leads to explosion of the latter.

A Couple of times, I don't remember what movies I even saw in sight was shown to the tank hatch, in the next frame, the finger pressed the trigger, and the machine exploded. Work, or the filmmakers don't know what fuel cap, to himself at least a few tens of centimeters of the pipe, or simply colorful, and the authors didn't know how better to explain where it is sent to the bullet.

This is the tank of the car and it is quite deeply hidden in the bowels of the car.

Even if the bullet hits the tank, almost certainly nothing will happen. There were even cases, when during the siege of Leningrad on the ice went the machine with fuel, and drivers seeing German planes, jumped out of the cab and shot the tank. Sounds a little crazy, but it was so, spill fuel, you have to protect it from explosion in case of contact with a projectile. From a big stone tank of fuel can really explode, but there are other destructive forces.

More power — the higher the speed

After movies like “fast and furious”, “need for speed” and some other people believe that the powerful engine is the main key to the speed of the car. In fact, again by.

This machine will go faster than a truck with the same capacity

The engine Power is really important for top speed, but in addition there are lots of other factors. Chief among them is aerodynamics. If the aerodynamics of the car will be somewhere between the brick and the tram, she won't be able to go fast. To accelerate, Yes, but not to go. By the way, overclocking is also not the most important indicator. This issue is much more important than torque, but that's a topic for a separate discussion.

According to the second Newton's law, with increasing speed, the kinetic energy of the body begins to consume not only the friction between the body and the environment, but also on the displacement volume of gas or fluid in front of the body. In this mode, the resistive force becomes proportional to the square of velocity.

Remember this moment?)

Approximately, we find that as the speed increases two times, the increase in the resistance will be four times. Accelerated five times, resistance has been growing twenty-five times and so on. That is, the aerodynamics after a certain value it becomes almost more important than engine power. That's why in Motorsport mechanics to solve many, but not all. Understood and closed the question.

wheel Slip

In some movies it shows the moment when the car starts very quickly. In order to emphasize the dynamics of the scene, the creators of the show emphasized that the car starts slipping and lots of smoke from under the wheels.

This technique also has nothing to do with real life. The fact that any spin — is the deterioration of rubber and loss of maximum acceleration. In order to maximize the speed of rotation of the wheel should be only 8-12 per cent fasterthe speed of conventional rolling at this speed. Everything else — the loss of time.

With a slip of the fast acceleration will not work.

Slip in place can be relevant only if the tires need to warm up for a bigger hook. This is an option, but this action is done before start, not during it. In addition, it is necessary not to overheat the tires, otherwise it will be covered with cork grip will be worse.

Skid the car in the turn

Another misconception associated with chases, lies in drifts. You can often see the scene when cars are driving fast through the city and each turn you are skidding. In fact, the higher the grip, the more important it is to go turn on the verge of slip at the maximum flat trajectory. Simply speaking, to the apex (the point of maximum fillet trajectory) is necessary to brake after him — to accelerate. Everything else — the loss of time. On gravel or sand slide is possible, but it should be clearly verified and, again, without unnecessary movements.

Now to pass the rotation effectively for drifting, but it's a waste of time.

In fact the show drifts in the movie is nothing more than artistic technique, designed to emphasize the dynamism of the scene. In real life, such hijacker//cab a long time to catch up with. Sometimes you can even see how much the car loses speed too much put forward in the rotation, then the driver aligns the steering wheel and starts to accelerate again.

Proof that it's completely inefficient way of cornering, is Motorsport. In addition to ground racing, in all competitions turn it is on the verge of sliding, but not for this face.

motor racing is easy

Often in the movies it is shown that the Motorsport it's easy. That is, that is not directly stated, but it is shown that the riders appear out of nowhere. A couple of weeks ago he sat behind the wheel, and now stands on the track with pilots, who all his life was training.

Partly because of these demonstrations, many people think that racing is easy. The logic is simple — there is no need to run, do not jump, do not think, and led almost all know how. Here only to drive a racing car on the highway is not something that a Ford Focus in Moscow.

When approaching the turn, which is passed at a speed of 50 km/h, with a speed of 300 km/h without braking, until it will not be a hundred meters, you really have to be eggs — Dani Pedrosa, the rider.

The above fully applies to the racing. To go fast in a straight line is one thing, but cornering at speeds over 200 km/h, sit two hours in the cockpit when the temperature is over 50 degrees and experience as fighter pilots, is quite another.

Another example is the fact that the formula classes with advanced aerodynamics can take a turn at speed 50 km/h, but can't do it at the speed of 100 km/h. While that sounds logical, but the pilot will have to force myself to enter the turn at a speed of 180-200 km/h. At this point starts to work aerodynamics, which generates downforce and allows you to quickly take a turn.

How it can be easy to manage such a machine at the limit of its capabilities?

So it is illogical and difficult. That is why good pilots not so much. Even if you take all the relative major Championships, collected two or three hundred really cool riders who've been doing this all my life, through many selections and each time being better than the rest. It is difficult to imagine how a novice can do it almost immediately.

Bouncing machine

Frequently in movies you can see how the car bounces in a collision with another car. It is difficult to imagine it in real life. For example, some ordinary car collides with sports. In the end, the first flies, supposedly with low nose of the second.

Of Course, if the nose of the car below the bumper that comes over him, and he has the absolute strength, is possible, but in reality this is another myth. The whole kit will crumble and all. Nothing more.

So it breaks the nose cone. No wedge and no remains.

Usually such jumps are removed in comedies and emphasize the irony of the film, but there are films in which everything seriously. For example, in one scene of the movie ”the Racer” starring Sylvester Stallone and Til Schweiger a seriously shows how one car during the race of the American series CART crashes into another, which was deployed against the course, and just takes off into the air. It is a fiction, since the nose cone is very easily broken upon contact, and then power the machine frame is quite angular for a toss.

Such a machine from the film «fast and furious» can really throw another, but she did.

As for this movie, you can say that it is just a storehouse of blunders. After viewing it becomes clear why Bernie Ecclestone has not given the rights to make a film about Formula 1. View the film, there are most of the bloopers described in this article. Although, if you close your eyes to them, the movie was not the worst.

Drown machine, once in the water

The Last paragraph talk about the fact that the machines drowning in the water. Of course, they are drowning, because they are iron. There will not eventopical jokes about the WHA, as it is sinking, trust me. The problem is that in the movie, the car often goes a stone on the bottom. Neither she nor the passengers no chance.

Someone to bother and do that. Well done! And Yes, a convertible without a roof really quickly drown.

The reality is not so logical. The machine will go to the bottom very slowly. This is due to the fact that the salon that will keep the machine on the surface until, until the water will not penetrate inside and the buoyancy of the whole structure will not become negative. Usually it takes at least two minutes. If the integrity of the machine is not very good, she will sink faster, but still we are not talking about a few seconds.

Myths in the movies

We have already talked about our overall, now dismantled examples of how we are being misled about the car.

Often it is done on purpose, as the drama of the story should be transferred in a special way. Domestic scenes in movies also do not appear as in life. To blame for that, not Directors.

But those cases where the filmmakers really believe that make is not knowing the elementary truths, are reprehensible. Still, before starting to shoot film, it is necessary to thoroughly understand the issue.